Today’s Readings: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; Exodus 12:1-4; John 12:1-17, 31b-35; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Featured Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
When I was a child, the local church I attended had a long-standing tradition. On the first Sunday of each month we participated in the sacrament of Communion. That was by no means a bad thing. My only problem with the way we had Communion was that we did it exactly the same – month after month, year after year, decade after decade. I always knew when we were getting read to start the Communion liturgy because the pastor would say exactly the same thing: turn to page 14 in the hymnal and read along with me. As a result of this monotonous approach, Communion was a very dry spiritual experience for me. To use Paul’s language from today’s reading, I let “familiarity breed contempt” (1 Corinthians 11:26 from The Message). Over many years, however, I was able to find beauty and power in the liturgy. I came to see the Communion liturgy not just as something that we were obligated to do once a month whether we wanted to our not; rather, I saw it as a way to “reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master” (1 Corinthians 11:25 from The Message). All of this came to mind for me because today is Maundy Thursday – a day when we commemorate the institution of the Lord’s Supper. It’s one of my favorite services of the entire Christian year. I hope you’ll find an opportunity to participate in a Maundy Thursday service that can help you reconnect with the spiritual roots of the practice for yourself. And the next time you have the opportunity to participate in the sacrament of Communion, I hope Paul’s words will stay with you - so that you’ll be drawn not into a dry, repetitive act that you do simply because its that time of the month, but rather into a sacrament that takes you back into one of the formative moments of our faith. Til next time…
Featured Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
When I was a child, the local church I attended had a long-standing tradition. On the first Sunday of each month we participated in the sacrament of Communion. That was by no means a bad thing. My only problem with the way we had Communion was that we did it exactly the same – month after month, year after year, decade after decade. I always knew when we were getting read to start the Communion liturgy because the pastor would say exactly the same thing: turn to page 14 in the hymnal and read along with me. As a result of this monotonous approach, Communion was a very dry spiritual experience for me. To use Paul’s language from today’s reading, I let “familiarity breed contempt” (1 Corinthians 11:26 from The Message). Over many years, however, I was able to find beauty and power in the liturgy. I came to see the Communion liturgy not just as something that we were obligated to do once a month whether we wanted to our not; rather, I saw it as a way to “reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master” (1 Corinthians 11:25 from The Message). All of this came to mind for me because today is Maundy Thursday – a day when we commemorate the institution of the Lord’s Supper. It’s one of my favorite services of the entire Christian year. I hope you’ll find an opportunity to participate in a Maundy Thursday service that can help you reconnect with the spiritual roots of the practice for yourself. And the next time you have the opportunity to participate in the sacrament of Communion, I hope Paul’s words will stay with you - so that you’ll be drawn not into a dry, repetitive act that you do simply because its that time of the month, but rather into a sacrament that takes you back into one of the formative moments of our faith. Til next time…
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